In a world where employees must constantly focus on safety, the use of SDS significantly reduces accidents and other issues, but can also cause substantial delays. According to Cottrill Research, employees spend, on average, 1.8 hours each working day looking for information, which can significantly impede production or transportation speeds.
You need a new solution, one that involves ditching paper and slow, human searching. Instead, it is time to join the 21st Century by using a true online SDS management system. Read on to discover how a cloud-based solution such as KHA’s Online SDS frees up your team to do their job instead of hunting for data and performing slow prep work.
By the end, you will learn how to see real returns in the ROI of implementing such a system and get ready to work with us to make it happen.
Why Use an Automated Online SDS Management System?
According to the National Safety Council, the second most frequently cited workplace safety issue by OSHA in 2024 was Hazard Communication, with 2,888 violations. Nobody is suggesting that we don’t need SDS, but both managing the system and ensuring that all employees have access to it must be a priority moving forward.
The simple fact is that manual binders are not everywhere. They can hide in cabinets, get lost in bags, be taken home, or end up damaged or broken due to the simplest of accidents. Then, if you don’t handle the issue in time, you might be slapped with a penalty by OSHA. Since January 15, 2025, the maximum penalty for willful or repeated violations is $165,514 per violation, which can be devastating for many businesses.
Instead, cloud-based SDS software solutions can be everywhere you need them, all at once. They can:
- Index every SDS and all the data associated with it
- Allow for simple search and reference
- Offer hazard statements front and center
- Use role-based permissions
- Prevent someone from adjusting documentation maliciously
- Give access to anyone with a smartphone or similar digital device
- Prevent accidental damage to the SDS
The centralized records aren’t only available to everyone, but they can also offer you an audit log. If someone edits them, you can see who and when, allowing you to respond if someone takes a potentially dangerous step. Automated backups can also safeguard them against natural disasters or cybercrime, keeping your business safe.
Ensuring Key Regulatory Compliance
Out-of-date sheets can quickly trigger OSHA penalties or other issues, not to mention provide your team with incorrect information, which is potentially hazardous. With physical sheets, this will require manual revision to untold numbers of binders across your workplace.
Digital libraries, on the other hand, allow suppliers or other authorities to edit the sheets with permission, ensuring the label is always accurate. Their being digital also offers several other benefits, including:
- Multilingual sheet support
- Triggered alarms if sheets are out of date for any worker
- Sheet filtering
- Integrated safety tools
- Trackable information on which workers deal the most with which chemicals
Game-Changing SDS Software Features
Some features extend beyond the basic ability to view the contents of SDS binders in digital form. For example, an online SDS cloud app can enable a user to scan QR codes or barcodes on storage rooms or containers, directly linking to specific SDS and eliminating the need for any searching.
At the same time, a well-designed mobile app, such as that from KHA, allows workers to download the latest versions of SDS sheets, even when working in areas where Internet access is unavailable or spotty.
Built-In Regulatory Reports
With regulatory organizations requiring regular onsite reporting of materials, having a system that can provide this capability at the touch of a button is a game-changer. Online SDS systems, such as those from KHA, can provide you with this information by offering a cloud-based system that both facilitates SDS for your workers and assists them with digital chemical management.
You can then compare your inventory against lists held by local authorities, allowing you to determine which items you need to report on and providing a simple method for pulling data from your system.
The KHA Online SDS system is a leader in this regard, automatically calculating the quantity of each material you have in stock, converting all of your inventory into a single unit for regulatory compliance, and providing a simple report that can be transferred within seconds.
Staff Training and Bloodhound Retrieval
A common concern when updating your entire system is that your staff will need to learn a new piece of safety compliance software. In truth, however, KHA ensures that its software is as easy to use as possible. We provide online guides to get your team up to speed as quickly as possible, while also offering training for system administrators to ensure they can handle the process effectively.
We can provide on-site training at an additional cost when you first start using our software, if necessary. However, we also offer a “train-the-trainer” system, which we run online with whoever you wish to be an in-house trainer, to enable you to onboard new team members easily.
When transferring to our cloud system, you may discover that you have lost track of specific SDS that you need for compliance. If that is the case, you can work with us to source our “Bloodhound Service“. We can then track down electronic versions of any SDS you are looking for and help you avoid regulatory issues.
This service is ideal if you need to locate legacy or obscure SDS from manufacturers that may no longer exist.
Take Control of Hazard Communication With an Online SDS System
Providing every employee with access to an accurate online SDS management system on any device and ensuring they receive instant SDS updates is a powerful tool. It prevents many potential regulatory failures and fines. Work with us to ensure that you align with OSHA’s requirements, including their latest revisions, without needing to perform heavy administrative tasks and update legacy binders.
If you would like to learn more about what we do, contact us today to schedule a demo of our Online SDS system and discover precisely what a modern “binder” can do for your business.
